This is not your typical “Laundry & Motherhood” Blog Post

We have all seen them; the graphic pictures and posts warning us that motherhood will be a never-ending pile of laundry.

Or the blog articles of 5 tips on “How to stay on top of the laundry as a mom”.

Or even better: “Good moms have dirty floors and big laundry piles.”

You know what I am talking about!

But you see, this stuff never really fit for me anyway.

Because conforming to some type of motherhood mould not only feels restrictive but also closes off space for me to live my FULL potential as a mother AND as a WOMAN.

Because, after all, I exist too.

Last week, I was confronted with my own pile of laundry saga, dilemma, story-call it whatever it is.

So, this is how the story goes:

There was a significant-sized laundry pile that I kept putting on my bed at the beginning of the day to “get to” folding AND (surprise, surprise), the day went by, and that pile of laundry was still there during the bedtime routine.

So, of course, the pile went back into the hamper before I collapsed my tired body into that bed at night.

And I repeated this predictable pattern more times than I can count over the course of the week.

Sound familiar? I know you’ve been there too mama…

Here is the crux of what this post is about…

The first day of the laundry pile story, my internal talk went a little like this: “oh well, tomorrow”, with a plan in my mind of course to fold it “later”.

Then, day after day, I began silently judging myself for “not getting to it”.

Looking back, I was not very gentle to myself in my head.

My negative self-talk was through the roof!

Each day, my body tensed up and just the sight of the hamper instantly created an internal feeling of stress and I noticed myself becoming short with others.

It took me a solid few days to consciously recognize what I was doing to myself.

I WAS ALLOWING AN INANIMATE PILE OF OBJECTS DEFINE MY WORTH.

I spent AN ENTIRE WEEK internally (subconsciously) judging myself because of clothing that could not care less about what happens to it.

I was well on my way to the road of shame.

So here’s the thing:

· The laundry pile DOES NOT define who YOU are.

· The laundry pile DOES NOT judge you.

· The laundry pile DOES NOT care about your intentions.

And it’s not just the laundry, it could be ANYTING in your life that provokes how you feel about yourself.

So, how about we free ourselves from all the inner turmoil we place on ourselves and instead focus on internal resources and energy toward what makes us FEEL ALIVE?

That’s something that can be EXTREMELY POWERFUL!

Because, this will allow you, not only to be in a different relationship with yourself BUT ALSO create an identity that is grounded in gratitude for what you do & what is TRULY important to YOU.

The message here is not to “just give up” on everything.

But rather, to have a conscious awareness of your relationship with “the laundry” or whatever the thing is, so that your internal self-talk is empowering and affirming.

And not shame-inducing.

When we are truly conscious of our own internal talk and the energy we put toward it, we can transcend the culturally conditioned messages of what we ought to do and move toward acceptance and appreciation of what it.

Because YOU matter.

And, seriously, fuck the laundry pile!

You’re SO MUCH MORE than that.

Jen Rosa-Dupuis, MSc, RP

Holistic Coach for Mothers

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About the Author

Jen Rosa-Dupuis is a Couple & Family Therapist-turned Holistic Motherhood Coach.

She has guided hundreds of people in their therapeutic journey over the past almost 20 yrs.

Her passion is helping mothers deeply reconnect with themselves & befriend their changing identity.

She has the gift of being able to pull out all the beautiful jewels buried inside you & bring them to light. How powerful is that!

As a mom, she knows too well how it’s easy to get swept up by motherhood and she is there to invite you to connect with yourself because YOU matter!

Follow her on Instagram & check out her website for amazing offerings.